Good Living 123

Celebrate National Lager Day with a favorite “cold one.” Or prep some recipe that lets your lager shine. I do not drink any beers, but beer, lager, wines, and other liqueurs work perfectly in various, scrumptious recipes. Here’s one of my go-to tastebud cravings, especially with warm, soft pretzels… okay, tortillas chips are great, too!

Beer Cheese Dip
Yummmmm! Talk about a comfort food appetizer!

¼ c butter
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ tsp each: garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper (or smoked paprika), salt
¼ c flour
¾ c half-and-half cream or whole milk
2/3 c lager or beer (a darker varietal for more bitterness)
2 c shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (freshly shredded from a block)
1 c shredded Gruyere cheese (freshly shredded from a block)

Melt butter over medium heat in saucepan; stir in Worcestershire, Dijon, & seasonings. Remove from heat and stir in flour. Then whisk in ¼ c of the cream until lumps are all smoothed. Return to heat and gradually whisk in remaining cream, while whisking. Continue whisking till smooth. Then whisk in beer. Cook and stir until thick and bubbly before reducing heat and stirring in cheeses till melted and smooth. Serve with big, soft pretzels, tortilla chips, Cortland apple sections, or fresh veggies.

KISS Tips: Always use a block of cheese to avoid unplanned additives in pre-shredded cheese. Replace some or all of the Cheddar with other cheeses, such as Swiss or Pepperjack. The Gruyere cheese can be replaced with Gouda or another melty fave. During serving, this can be kept warm in a mini slow cooker.

Whip up some yummy fritters to tantalize your taste buds! “They” say that fritters have been around since the days of ancient Rome, and their popularity is even greater today.

For breakfast or dessert, it’s tough to beat fresh apple fritters… no canned apple filling will do. Serve them up dusted with powdered sugar and warmed 100% maple syrup on the side. Okay, whipped cream, made with some vanilla extract is also awesome!

Enjoy fritters… or croquettes… any way you like. Some are sweet. Others are savory. They all get fried and then served hot with dips or dustings. Make them as happy little fried dough balls or flattened, highly-textured, almost pancake thin flats.

I’ve shared Mom’s Zucchini Rounds recipe in an earlier post. (Still out here in my 2022 articles.) But a great variation on it is to double the sweet onion and cheese and also add shredded carrots.

Another favorite harkens back to Native American origins… the corn fritter… served hot and toasty with a generous scoop of honey butter. Well, yeah! Okay, I need those NOW! Here’s a great twist on the original is Fluffy Corn Fritters.

Fluffy Corn Fritters
3 c fresh white corn kernels (or frozen baby kernels, thawed)
1 green onion, very thinly sliced (green portion only)
¼ c sweet onion, finely chopped
1 c flour
1 c corn starch
2 T monkfruit or granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 lg or x-lg eggs, lightly beaten
¾ c heavy cream
Vegetable oil for frying
Garnish options: sliced green onion, chopped parsley, and/or a dusting of powdered sugar

Combine corn, onions, flour, corn starch, monkfruit and baking powder. Stir in eggs and cream thoroughly. Coat bottom of large skillet with vegetable oil over med-high heat. Scoop mixture by 2-3 T mounds into hot oil, spreading each lightly into flat, circular shapes. Cook 2-3 min, and turn over, letting it cook another 2-3 min till golden brown. Add more oil as needed. Drain on wire rack over paper towels and season with salt. Garnish as desired and serve hot. Makes 12-15.

We are blessed to have luscious peppers available to us throughout the year. We often may think of sautéing peppers and onions to add to a sandwich… or stuffing whole peppers as an entrée.

But I made a fun twist on the stuffed pepper thinking as part of our Brunch Bites menu on Thanksgiving. Some fresh berries and chunks of fresh pineapple and a sweet roll twist on the side, made this quite a nice treat. Plus, land one or two of these beauties inside a toasty bagel or a favorite baguette or roll with your choice of spread, and you’ve got one gem of a breakfast sandwich. (Well, I’d be adding cheese and a couple slices of bacon, most assuredly.) Anyway, here’s my full recipe, which started by stuffing tomatoes, but I did the sweet bell pepper version for Turkey Day.
Skillet Stuffed Egg Rings
These are Super Simple and “eggseptionally” yummy!

1 large tomato, cut crosswise into ½“-thick slices
2 lg or x-lg eggs
1 T chopped parsley
¼ tsp salt & pepper
½ c diced ham, bacon bits, or cooked sausage crumbles
1 T flour
2 T olive oil

Use a glass, biscuit cutter or knife to cut out the insides of the tomatoes, leaving a ½ “ outer rim. Then dice the tomato insides. In small bowl, whisk eggs; stir in chopped tomatoes, herbs, seasonings, meat and flour. Heat oil in large skillet over med heat. Place tomato rings in pan and fill with egg mixture. Cook 1 min; turn over with spatula & cook another 30-60 seconds. Serve hot, sprinkled with additional herbs, if desired. Makes 4 slices.
KISS Variations: Enjoy Italian Skillet Stuffed Egg Rings by replacing parsley with oregano or mixed Italian herbs; replace meat options with diced pancetta, and sprinkle with ½ c shredded Mozzarella cheese (divided among all 4) after turning rings over to cook final side. Garnish with extra chopped Italian herbs or parsley. Try South of the Border Stuffed Egg Rings by replacing parsley with cilantro or a favorite taco seasoning; add ¼ c diced avocado; replace meat with diced chorizo sausage; add ½ c shredded Monterey Jack or Pepperjack cheese either to the eggs or sprinkled on top after turning in the skillet. For Super Simple Omelet Stuffed Pepper Rings, cut 2 large sweet peppers (any color) into ½“thick rings, removing any attached seeds. Season 1 lb ground meat (beef, sausage, lamb, poultry, or combo) as above to suit any “theme” or desired flavor; mix in 1 lightly beaten egg and 1 c shredded Jack, Mozzarella, or other melty cheese or your choice. Press the stuffing into each ring, pressing down firmly and filling the pepper rings completely, remembering that meat will shrink when cooking). These rings also make great tapas servings, with some chunky salsa, warmed marinara, a sweet Thai chili, or other sauce on the side.

Today is National Soup Day in Germany. Well, I’m going to celebrate it New England style with some Lobster Newburg. In my photo, you see a great way to go extra fancy for a full lobster bisque entrée. I garnished each bowl with a couple of lobster claws and lobster cakes. Hello! Can you say delightful decadence?

This is one of the dozens of recipes from my “Lobacious Lobster” cookbook. Enjoy!

Super Simple Lobster Newburg

This is one of the most wonderful ways to present a splashy-looking and tasting entrée without all the “fuss.”

¼ c butter
2 T flour
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp paprika (& a dash of cayenne pepper, optional)
2 T dry sherry (you can substitute dry white wine)
2 lg egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 and ½ c light cream
2 c (about 1 lb) cooked lobster meat, cut in ½ – 1” pieces

In the top of a double boiler over simmering water, melt the butter; stir in flour. Then stir in salt, paprika & sherry, followed by lobster.  In a small bowl, combine yolks and cream.  Stir a couple of spoonfuls of the hot butter mixture into the cream mixture; then gradually stir the entire cream mixture into the butter mixture in the top of the double boiler.  Continue to cook over the lowest heat over the hot simmering water just until thickened, stirring often.  Stir in the lobster and let cook 1-2 more minutes, just to heat the lobster through.  Serve on its own, over crispy toast points, in puff pastry patty shells, or in a crusty bread bowl. Makes 4 appetizer or 2 entrée servings.

KISS Tip:  Do NOT overcook this or any other lobster dish or you will get tough lobster.
KISS Variation:  For One-Bite Newburgs spoon the hot filling into pre-made miniature phyllo pastry  cups and serve with a touch of freshly chopped parsley on top.  Mini pastry cups can typically be found in boxes of 15 in a supermarket frozen food section.